The Relationship Between Dietary Diversity Among Women of Reproductive Age and Agricultural Diversity in Rural Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Agriculture can influence diets through consumption of home-produced foods or increased purchasing power derived from sale of agricultural commodities. Objective: This article explores cross-sectional relationships between agricultural diversification and dietary diversity (a proxy for micronutrient adequacy) among women of reproductive age in rural Tanzania. Methods: Dietary diversity was measured using the women’s minimum dietary diversity score indicator. Data were analyzed from the baseline survey of a cluster randomized control trial in Rufiji, Tanzania. One woman of reproductive age was randomly surveyed from each eligible household, totaling 1006 individuals. Generalized linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate the relationship between agricultural indicators and dietary diversity. Results: Median dietary diversity score for women was 3.00 (interquartile range: 2-3). Approximately 73% of households grew at least 1 crop in the previous year. Women’s dietary diversity score was positively associated with cropping diversity ( P for trend = .04), ownership of livestock (adjusted coefficient: 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.08-0.44; P = .005), cash crop production (adjusted coefficient: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.03-0.41; P = .02), and production of pulses (adjusted coefficient: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.27-0.74; P < .0001) and other vegetables (adjusted coefficient: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.11-1.17; P = .02). Conclusions: Average dietary diversity is well below the recommended 5 food groups per day, a widely used indicator of micronutrient adequacy. Since the majority of households participate in agriculture, the efforts to promote agricultural diversification and/or specialization and sale of agricultural goods may positively influence dietary diversity and associated health and nutrition outcomes.

Dietary Diversity and Micronutrients Adequacy in Women of Childbearing Age: Results from ELANS Study

“…Our results showed to be better than the 25% of WRA reaching a diverse diet in Gitagia, Kenya (2019) [30], and Chakona, South Africa (2017) [29]. In the study of Bellows and colleagues (2019), only 10% of women of reproductive age in rural Tanzania consume at least five food groups [28], far below what was seen in our findings. Also, in our study, women with low SES had significantly lower DDS than those in the medium and high SES (p < 0.05).…”

“…DDS showed an average score lower than the 5-point cut-off proposed by FAO [11]. When analyzed by country, only Peru and Ecuador reached the MDD-W. Several studies conducted in African populations using the same methodology have obtained worse results [7,[28][29][30]. According to the MDD-W threshold of five or more food groups, 57.7% of WRA living in Latin America have a diverse diet.…”

Home gardening improves dietary diversity, a cluster‐randomized controlled trial among Tanzanian women

“…Previous cross-sectional results from our study showed an association between crop diversity, production of pulses and production of vegetables with women's dietary diversity score (Bellows et al, 2019).…”

“…community based, food and nutrient intake, food security, low income, maternal nutrition, micronutrients, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, homestead food production, community health workers, dietary diversity, leafy greens (Bellows et al, 2019;Huang et al, 2018;Lander et al, 2019). Micronutrient-dense foods such as vegetables and animal products are often more expensive and perishable than staple grains and therefore less affordable, especially for low-income households (Masters et al, 2018).…”

“…Malnutrition remains a major public health problem in rural Tanzania and other countries in sub‐Saharan Africa (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], The International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD], United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF], World Food Programme [WFP], & World Health organization [WHO], 2017). In these settings, a large percentage of the population consumes mostly carbohydrate‐dense staples such as maize, rice, cassava and potatoes that have low concentrations of essential micronutrients needed to maintain health (Bellows et al, 2019; Huang et al, 2018; Lander et al, 2019). Micronutrient‐dense foods such as vegetables and animal products are often more expensive and perishable than staple grains and therefore less affordable, especially for low‐income households (Masters et al, 2018).…”